Road grader



June 29, 1943. 1 -r 2,323,108

ROAD GRADER Original Filed No). 2a, 1938 5 Sheets-Sheet l //vvE/v7'oeFRANKLIN E. ARND'I:

June 29, 1943. F. E. ARNDT 2,323,108

ROAD GRADER Original Filed :Nov. 2:, 1938.

5 Sheets-Sheet 5 /NVEN7'OE FRANKLIN E.AENDT ATT'Y June 29, 1943.

F. E. 'ARNDT 2,323,108

ROAD GRAD'ER Original Filed Nov; 23, 1938 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 HTT'Y- Jun e29, 1943.

Original Filed-Nov. 23, 1938 F. g AR DT 2,323,108

noAn GRADER} 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 "0 358'm 3am FRANKLIN E.AI?ND1;

HTT'Y Patented June 29, 1943 ROAD GRADER Franklin E. Arndt, Galion,Ohio, assignor to The Galion Iron Works & Manufacturing Company, acorporation of Ohio Original application November 23, 1938, Serial No.241,979. Divided and this application April. 29, 1941, SerialNo. 390,953

8 Claims.

My invention relates to road graders, and one of its objects is theprovision of improved and efficient drawbar structure for adjustablysupporting a. circle carrying the grader blade or moldboard.

Another object of the invention is the provision ofimproved andefiicient'mechanism. for supporting a moldboard circle on a drawbar and.adjusting such circle relative to the drawbar.

Other objects of. the invention will appear hereinafter, thenovelfeatures and combinations being set forth. in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figs- 1 and 2, placed'end to end, show a side elevation of the roadgrader embodying my improvements;

Figs. 3 and 4, placed end to end, show a plan view of the road gradershown'in Figs. 1 and 2', but with the moldboard shifted to alongitudinal position from the transverse position shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional plan view of the gearing for operatingthe circle to shift the moldboard from the" transverse position" shownin Fig. 2 to the longitudinal position shown in Fig; 4;

Fig; 6 is' a sectional view taken on the line 66 of Fig. 5, looking" inthe direction of the arrows;

Fig. 7 is a plan-view of the supplemental frame serving as a drawbar, asshown in" Figs. 3 and 4 placed end to end;

Fig. 8 is aside View of the structure shown in Fig.- 7 adapted to serveas a drawbar, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 placed end to end; and

Fig: 9 is a sectional elevation of the front steering'wheel unit,looking, forward, the section being taken on the line 9-9 of Fig. 1,looking in the direction of thearrows.

This application is a division ofmy co-pending application S. N.241,979, filed Nov. 23', 1938,. and since. issued as Patent No.2,247,007; for a Road grader.

Referring to the road-working implement comprising a moldboard or.scraper blade I09 and the structure for supporting the, same, it will beseen that the supplemental. frame H6: constitutes a drawbar for themoldboard 109. mentalframe ordrawbar is a rigidstructure relativelynarrow and elongated throughout most of its length, particularly atits-forward. end portion, to. facilitate its movement laterally of thenarrow elongated main framawhen the moldboard.

This suppleis shifted from road-grading position to steep 55bank-cutting position at-one side ofthe machine. By referring to Fig. 3of the drawingsit will be seen that the forwardportion of the main frameisnarrower than the main portion of the drawbar, but the latteristapered at itsforward end where it is even narrower than the mainframe.

While themain frame is upwardly arched to provide ample room" for thedrawbar and moldboard'in their various positions of adjustment, thedrawbar is sopshaped as'to have its rear end portion approximatelyhorizontal when the moldboard is in road grading position. Theintermediate portion of the drawbar is inclined upwardly and forwardly,as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 placed end to end. The forward end portion ofthe drawbar slopes upwardly and forwardly more gradually than theintermediate portion and has its upper portion at HI approximatelyhorizontal so as to increase the space between the front end of thedrawbar and the beams 40, 40 of the main frame which slopes downwardlyand forwardly at its forward end, as viewed in Fig. 1. It should beunderstood that the main frame and drawbar are thus specially shaped tofacilitate movement of the moldboard to steep bank-cutting position.These special shapes of the frames are particularly desirable when themoldboard is to be shifted to an upright bankcutting position.

The drawbar, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8, comprises spaced-apart anglesH2, H2 connected by the transverse bracing tubes H3, H4, the ends ofwhich are welded to the angles H2, H2. Welded between the forward endsof the angles H2, H2 is a longitudinally extending tubular socket H5. Asshown in Fig. 1, an I-bolt H6 is adapted to be swiveled to the front endof the drawbar having its screw-threaded rod H1 extended through thesocket H5 and secured in place by the nut H8. A horizontal U-bolt H9extends through the I-bolt H6, as shown in Fig. 1, and this U-boltextends through openings in the laterally extending brackets I20, I20

r and is held rigidly connected to the vertical post by means of thenuts l2l. The rear side of the post 45 has a semi-circular recess, asindicated at I22 in Fig. 3, for receiving the forward end of the I-boltH6 but it should be understood that while the U-bolt H9 occupies ahorizontal plane, and the I-bolt H6 occupies a vertical plane, auniversal connection is afforded to the extent that the I-bolt may bemoved laterally on a vertical pivot relative to the U-bolt H9 and alsovertically on a horizontal pivot relative to the U-bolt II9. By reasonof the universal connection between the front end of the drawbar H andthe post 45, the front end of the drawbar may be swung laterally andvertically and also rotated in either direction on the axis of the boltII 1.

To the rear ends of the heavy structural angles II 2, I I2 is welded thecross-piece I 23 to which in turn is welded the additional crosspieceI24. Diagonal braces I25, I25 are welded at their ends to the structuralangles H2 and the cross-piece I23. To the outer ends of the cross-piecesI23 and I24 are welded the longitudinally extending tubular sockets I26,I21. The socket I26 is adapted to receive the neck I28 of the sphericalhead I29 which is adapted to serve as the ball of the ball and socketjoint at the lower end of an extensible hanger, as hereinafter fullyexplained. The socket I21 is adapted to receive at its ends the necksI30 and I3! of the spherical heads I32 and I33, respectively. The headI32 is adapted to serve as the ball of a ball and socket joint at thelower end of another extensible hanger at the opposite side of themachine. The head. I33 is adapted to serve as the ball of a ball andsocket joint for one end of the laterally shifting hydraulic motor ashereinafter fully explained. The neck I28 is held in the socket I26 bymeans of the bolt I34. The necks I30. and I3I are held in the socket I21by means of the bolts I135 and I36, as shown in Fig. 7.

To the under sides of the structural angles I I 2, H2 and the undersides of the cross-pieces I23, I24 is welded a shallow cup-shapedbearing sup port I31 having a central opening I38 for receiving the kingpin I39 shown in Fig. 2. The lower side of the bearing support I31 iscircumferentially flanged at I49 to provide on its under side theannular bearing I4I, It will thus be seen that the drawbar structureshown in Figs. 7 and 8 is well braced and reinforced in an all weldedassembly including the bearing support I31. I

The semi-circle I 42 is preferably forged integrally with the moldboardknees I43, I43 which are connected by the diagonal braces I44, I44 tothe cross-piece I45, as shown in Fig. 4. The lower or depending ends ofthe knees I 43 are pivoted-at I46 to the moldboard carrier I 41 whichmay be adjustably connected to the knees I43 by means of the bolts I48and perforations M9, as shown in Fig. 2.

The semi-circle I42 is reinforced by the diagonal braces I50, I58'whichare secured at their rear ends to the cross-piece I45, as shown inFig.4. The semi-circle I42 is additionally reinforced by thestructuralangles II, I5I, 552, I52 and I53, as shown in Fig. 4. Within the squarespace enclosed by the structural angles I52, I52, I53 and thecross-piece I45, is located the wheel shaped or disc shaped bearingsupport I5 4, the cylindrical periphery of which is preferably welded tothe crosspiece I45 and the structural angles I52, I52, I53. The bearingsupport l54, as shown in Fig. 2, is of the same diameter as the fiangeI40 of the bearing support I31. The upper peripheral ring portion of thebearing support I 54 engages the lower peripheral portion I4I of thebearing support I 31. I31 is provided with a hub I55 concentric with thehub I56 of the lower bearing support I 54. Thehub I55 is rigid with thedrawbar structure, and the'hub I56 is rigid with the semi-circlestructurathe lower end of the hub I55 being en The bearing support Pgaged by the upper end of the hub I56 when the king pin I39 is in theposition shown in Fig. A cap plate I51 of larger diameter than the kingpin I39 is secured to the lower end of the latter by means of the capscrew I58 in position to en-- gage the lower end of the hub I56. Thewasher I59 engages the upper end of the hub I and a nut I60 locked tothe upper end of the king pin I39 is relied on to hold the bearingsupports I31 and I54 in mutual engagement over wide areas of bearingsurfaces. That is to say, not only are the adjacent ends ofrthe hubs I55and held in engagement with each other but the annular bearing surfacesof the circular bearing supports I31 and I 54 are also held inengagement with each other.

The mechanism for rotating the semi-circle I42 together with themoldboard I89 carried thereby is power-operated under control of theoperator at his station at the rear end of the machine shown in Fig. 2,and this power-operated mechanism is so arranged as to be fullyoperative in any position of adjustment of the moldboard, includingsteep bank-cutting posi-' tions. As shown in Fig. 6, annular gearingI6I' is secured to the semi-circle I 42 and with this annular gearingmeshes a pinion I62 carried by the lower end of the shaft I63 (Fig. 5)journaled in a bearing I64 detachably bolted to the structural anglesH2, H2 of the drawbar frame. For this purpose transverse perforationsI65, I65 are provided in the vertical flanges of the structural anglesH2, H2, as shown inl 'igs. '1 and 8.

As shown in the enlarged sectional elevation of Fig. 5, the housing I66for the journal bearing I64 spans the space between the structuralangles I I2, II 2 and is bolted thereto by means of the bolts I61, I61.Keyed to the upper end of the shaft I63 is a worm wheel I68 located inthe housing I69, and this worm wheel meshes with a worm I10 which iskeyed to the shaft I1I which extends longitudinally of the drawbar frameand toward the front end thereof, as shown in Fig. 2.

By means of cap screws I12 a cover I13 is secured to the gear housingI69. A nut I14 locks the worm wheel I68 to the shaft I63, as shown inFig. 5. By connection to the fitting I15, lubricant may be introducedinto the housing I69 without removing the cover I13. The worm gearingI68, I10 is preferably self-locking to hold the moldboard in adjustedposition on the king pin I39 relative to the drawbar frame.

The forward end of the shaft I1I is connected by means of the universaljoints I16, I 11 and connecting link I18 to the shaft I19, the forwardend of which is connected to a spur gear rotatable on a longitudinalaxis and meshing with another spur gear connected extending shaft I19,the spur gearing being mounted in the housing I which is attached to thevertical flange of the structural angle II2 shown in Fig. 1.

By placing Figs. 1 and 2 end to end it will be seen that the rearwardlyextending shaft I19 is connected by means of the universal joints I8I,I82 and intermediate connecting link I83 to the horizontal rearwardlyextending shaft I84. The link I83 is extensible in length in that itcomprises a tubular section I85 having a socket square in cross-sectioninto which fits the rod I86 also square in cross-section.

The rear end of the horizontal shaft I84 is connected by means of auniversal joint I81 to a shaft which is journaled in the bearing I89 1nthe front side of the housing I90, as shown to the rearwardly in Fig."2; Within the housing-I 90islooated manually'controlled power-operatedreversing mechanism for effecting rotation of the moldboard in oppositedirections on the axis of the king pin I39; For this purpose", aninternal combustion engine I9I is'mounted on the main frame adjacent theoperator's platform I92, as shown in Fig. 2, and connected to theoperating gearing.

By means of an upwardly extending operating lever 2 I 5 whichisadaptedto be moved forwardly and rearwardly, the operating gearing maybe actuated to effect reversal of rotation of the moldboard semi-circleoperating mechanism.

When the lever 2I5 is moved rearwardly the moldboard is rotated on theking pin" I39. in one direction and. when the lever M5 is movedforwardly the moldboard is rotated in the opposite direction.

It should be noted. that while the internal combustion engine I! may becontinuously operated at relatively highspeed, the gearing effects suchspeed of rotation of the moldboard on the axis of the king pin I39 as toenable the operator to adjust the position of the moldboard relative tothe drawbar with accuracy while under his observation, and this isparticularly true since the main frame of the machine is open andrelatively narrow adjacent the moldboard.

When the operating lever is released springactuated centering mechanismautomatically returns the lever to neutral position, when theself-locking worm gearing is relied on to hold the moldboard in adjustedangular relation to the drawbar.

By reason of the narrow width of the front end of the main frame and theforward tapering to a narrow width of the front end of the drawbar, asshown in Fig. 3, the drawbar is free to be moved on its flexibleconnection between the front end of the drawbar and the post 45, to anupright plane where the moldboard is in upright bank-cutting position.This is particularly true by reason of the fact that the verticalflanges of the angle iron structures H2, H2 are spaced-apart to a nogreater distance than the vertical plates of the channel iron structures40, 40 of the main frame, as may be seen by referring to Fig. 3.Furthermore, the tapering of the vertical flanges of the angle ironstructures II2, II 2 at III (Fig. 1) enables the hangers to lift themoldboard up off the roadway and to hold the moldboard with ampleclearance of the road surface while being shifted laterally to steepbank-cutting position. For all desired adjustments of the drawbar therewill be no interference with the front end portion of the main frame.

When the moldboard is operating in steep bank-cutting position it mayhook back of an obstruction in the bank, tending to pull the semicircleI42 from the king pin axis I39 to the rear end of the drawbar. To assistthe king pin to resist such pulling strain, a guide plate 385 may besecured by means of the bolt 33'! to the bottom of the bracket 388, asshown in Fig. 2. As shown in Fig. 7, the bracket 388 may comprise plates389, 389 welded to the inner faces of the vertical flanges of the angleiron structures H2, H2. A cross-plate 399 is shown welded at its ends tothe plates 389. Sockets 39!, 39I are welded to the plates 389 and 399 invertical position to receive the bolts 38'! of Fig. 2. The bracketstructure 388 co-operates with the bracing tubes I I3 and I I4 torigidly connect the angle iron structures H2, H2 of the drawbar frame.

The upper andloweredges'of the'semi-circle; I'd! are guided alongthe-lowersides of the horizontal flanges of the angleiron structures H2;H2"; and the lower edge of this semi-circle H2 is guided along the uppersurface ofthe guide plate 386, as shown in Fig; 2.

Obviously those skilled in the art'may' make various changes in thedetails and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit. andscope of the invention as defined by the claims hereto appended, andiI'therefore wish not to be restricted to the precise construction hereindisclosed.

Having thus described and shown an embod'ie ment' of my inventibnwhatIdesire to secure by" Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

1'. In a, road grader, the combination with a drawbar havingspaced-apart verticalflanges, of a grader blade circle pivoted tosaiddrawbar on an upright axis, an arcuate rack on said. circle, drivinggearing supported, by and. between said vertical flanges andconnectedtosaid rack at the front end portion of said circle, direction.gearing supported by said drawbar in advance of said driving gearing, aflexible connection between said driving gearing and said directiongearing, means comprising a horizontal plate suspended from said drawbarbelow the front end of the circle below and adjacent to said drivinggearing, and means extending rearwardly from said direction gearing foractuating the latter, the construction and arrangement being such thatwhile said driving gearing turns said circle the front end of the latterrests on said horizontal plate below and near such driving gearing.

2. As an article of manufacture, a road grader drawbar having on itsbottom at its rear end two downwardly facing concentric bearings both inthe same plane and surrounding a central opening adapted to receive aking pin for pivotally supporting a grader blade circle.

3. A road grader comprising the combination with a semi-circle, ofsupporting framework therefor having a square opening therethrough, anda circular bearing extending into said square opening and having itsperiphery at spacedapart points welded to said framework at the innersides of said square opening.

4. A road grader comprising the combination with a semi-circle, ofsupporting framework therefor, said framework having an openingtherethrough, and a circular bearing extending into said opening andwelded to the framework at the inner sides of said opening, saidcircular bearing having an annular bearing surface on its upper side.

5. A road grader comprising the combination with a semi-circle, ofsupporting framework therefor, said framework having an openingtherethrough, and a circular bearing welded to said framework to occupya position in said opening, said circular bearing having concentricannular bearing surfaces on its upper side with an upwardly facingdepression between them and with an opening through the center of thecircular bearing to receive a king pin.

6. A road grader comprising the combination with a semi-circle, ofsupporting framework within the boundary thereof, said framework havingan opening therethrough with a plurality of straight sides, a circularbearing in said opening and welded to said straight sides, said circularbearing having an annular bearing surface on its upper side, and anannular rack spaced radially from said circular bearing and having asits center the center of said circular bearing, said rack beingconcentric with said annular bearing surface.

7. A road grader comprising the combination with a relatively narrowdrawbar, of a circle support having on its under side a downwardlyfacing annular bearing the diameter of which is approximately equal tothe width of said drawbar, .a semi-circle having an arcuate rack,supporting framework for said semi-circle, mechanism secured to saidframework to afford an up wardly facing annular bearing surface adaptedto engage said downwardly facing annular bearing, said annular bearingsbeing spaced inwardly from said arcuate rack, means comprising a kingpin for pivotally connecting at the centers of said annular bearingssaid semi-circular and said drawbar, means carried by said drawba-r inad- Vance of said semi-circle for supporting the for- Ward portion ofthe latter, and means on the drawbar spaced forwardly of said annularbearingsv and comprising a pinion meshing with said arcuate rack forrotating the semi-circle on the king pin as a center.

8. A road grader comprising the combination with a drawbar, of a discsecured to said drawbar and having an opening in its center with adownwardly facing hub surrounding such opening and an annular bearingfacing downwardly and spaced radially from said hub, a semi-circlehaving an arcuate rack spaced from said annular bearing and concentrictherewith, a diSc mounted on said semi-circle of about the same size assaid first-named disc and having an opening in its center with anupwardly facing hub surrounding said last-named opening and an upwardlyfacing annular bearing spaced radially from said last-named hub, andmeans comprising a king pin extending through the openings in said discsfor pivotally connecting said a semicircle to said drawbar, theconstruction and arrangement being such that said hubs engage each otherand said annular bearings engage each other with the latter entirelyseparated from said arcuate rack but concentric therewith.

FRANKLIN E. ARNDT.

